Josiah purifies and restores the temple desecrated by his predecessor,
and the book of the law is found. On reading it, Josiah wonders: does the
law of our fathers call down upon us a blessing, or curse us because we
have strayed so far from the holiness of faithful obedience that it calls
us to? Josiah calls on the prophetess Huldah to interpret. Her response:
the law will be both blessing and curse. Read 2 Kings 22-23:1-27.

Read 2 Kings 24-25. Now re-read 2 Kings 25:27-30. It was an ancient
custom for a new king to grant amnesty to prisoners. It is historically
possible that Jehoiachin was actually released by the new king of Babylon.
Some commentators see this ending to 1 and 2 Kings as a glint of hope -
the house of David had not quite been snuffed out, and in fact is honored.
The Catholic Church looks at Jesus and sees the complete fulfillment and
completion of the promise God made to the house of David. <<

In the ancient Near East, when a city or a nation was conquered, the
invaders usually executed the wealthy and the powerful. When Babylon
conquered Israel, the wealthy and powerful were either executed on the
spot, or brought back to Babylon as slaves. The only Israelites who
escaped were those too poor to bother about. Read Zephaniah, Zeph 2:3.
Scholars see Zeph 2:3 as the beginning of a new turn in Israel's
reflections about what God was calling them toward. What is this new
idea?

a. the humbled, the poor, and the lowly are
the ones who will be saved.b. the Messiah will come to save the people
of Israel from their slavery.c. there is only one God, the LORD, who
created the heavens and the earth.

The ''remnant of Israel'' is a powerful image of those Jews who stay true
to God, or return to him, after a disaster. Read Is 10:20-21. Scholars say
that Isaiah 41:14-17 was written at a different historical period than Is
10, and addresses as the ''remnant of Israel'' those who will return from
the Exile in Babylon. Read Is 41:14-17 now. How is the remnant of Israel
referred to there? As:

a. the clever and learned.b. the poor and needy.c. the rich and powerful.

In CCC 710, the Holy Father and bishops in union with him teach the
following:

''In God's plan, the Exile already stands in the shadow of the Cross, and
the Remnant of the poor that returns from Exile is one of the most
transparent prefigurations of the Church.''

The Catholic Church, rich in her Lord's sacramental presence, still
journeys in poverty in this fallen world, and awaits her Lord's second
coming on the Last Day, when the world will at last be completely whole
again, fully able to manifest and join with the holiness of God. Then at
last, in Christ and through the Holy Spirit, the poverty of this world
will be ended. <<

The exile in Babylon eventually ended. Scholars believe that the book of
the prophet Zechariah was written after the exile ended. Yet the promised
savior has not yet come, even after the exile has ended, because Zech 9:9
(read it now) foretells his coming and states that he will belong to

a. the clever, the learned.b. the humble, the meek.c. the wealthy, the powerful.

'anawim is the Hebrew word for the humble, poor, lowly, afflicted, meek
of Israel. In the Old Testament there is a long, gradual development of
the salvific meaning of the 'anawim. The Catholic Church sees many
passages in Isaiah as showing clearly that the Messiah himself, while
remaining the anointed one of God, priest, prophet, and king, will indeed
belong to the poor. Read Is 61:1-2. Yet the Messiah will not only bring
the poor ''good tidings.'' Read Is 53:1-3. The Messiah will himself be
afflicted. The kingship of Jesus comes about through the Cross.

In her Magnificat, her great hymn of praise, Mary also shows that she too
belongs to the poor.

a. can be a meaning that contradicts the
meaning the human author intended to convey.b. can be more meaning there, even beyond
the meaning the human author intended to convey.c. can not be more meaning there, beyond
the meaning the human author intended to convey.

Often, there is more meaning in a particular passage in the Bible, even
beyond the meaning the human author intended to convey, particularly as
seen in the light of the reality of the sacraments and the truth of the
New Testament. For example, look at Gen 1:1 and compare it to Jn 1:1, as
you did in a previous question. (Yes, you do have to go back and do that
now). But all meaning starts with the truth of the literal sense of the
passage. <<

The Old Testament books with a star *
are not any more or less important than the others. The star indicates
that the Catholic Church definitively professes and knows these books to
be part of the sacred writings, the inspired Word of God [cf. CCC 120],
but that they are specifically rejected by the Jewish people, and called
''apocryphal'' (of doubtful inspiration) by Protestants.

Most scholars consider the book of Tobit to be a story,
not a historical account. Tobit is a faithful Jew living among pagans.
Read Tob 1:1-3. Read Tob 1:5-6. Read Tob 1:16-17. The book of Tobit
teaches that faithfulness to God includes

a. giving money to the poor.b. restoring the Ark of the Covenant.c. vengeance toward enemies.

Tobit becomes blind and prays for death. The woman Sarah has no husband
because a demon, wanting her for himself, has killed seven prospective
bridegrooms. She also prays to God for deliverance. Read Tob 3:7-15. Now
read Tob 3:16-17. The readers of Tobit now know something that the
characters do not. What is it?

a. God is sending the angel Raphael to
answer both their prayers.b. God is sending the angel Raphael to
answer Sarah's prayers.c. God is sending the angel Raphael to
answer Tobit's prayers.

Tobit asks his son Tobiah (or Tobias) to travel to Gabael's house, so
that Tobiah can have the money Tobit has saved there. Before Tobiah
leaves, Tobit, expecting death, tells his son how to live. Read Tob
4:1-21. Now re-read Tob 4:21. Are these words of Tobit to his son
apparently inconsistent with Tobit's own condition?

The angel Raphael becomes Tobiah's guide on the journey. Raphael tells
Tobit and Tobiah that his name is Azariah (or Azarias) - a little white
lie, because Azariah means ''the LORD is my help.'' (Raphael truly is
there to be the LORD's help to them). Instructed by Raphael, Tobiah
catches a fish that would have seized him, whose parts can heal the blind
and drive away demons. Raphael also suggests that he marry Sarah, who is
his relative (scholars think that at the time marriage between relatives
was encouraged by some Jews). Read Tob 7-8. The wedding of Tobiah and
Sarah occurs only after

a. a wedding feast that lasted fourteen
days, twice the normal time.b. a young lamb is sacrificed in the Temple
precincts.c. their prayer to the God of the
patriarchs and the God of Creation.